Asural, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

The Refuge Sanctuary. Annabella remembered this place all too well; it was like the freckles on her forearm. She knew every pattern, every corner, every angle. This place had been her home on and off for the past four years, and she had explored it to its deepest crevices. It held no secrets from her.

She, however, held many secrets it would never know.

Benjamin left her about ten minutes before Todd and Stephanie showed up. The older man had gotten a call on his pager, something above ground demanding his attention, and he looked grave as he left. Annabella hadn't bothered to ask him what it was about — she'd figure out soon enough. Benjamin had a habit of telling her everything. He trusted her, and she trusted him. She wouldn't have brought Todd here if she hadn't trusted Benjamin with their lives. However, just because she trusted the man didn't mean she told him everything. Annabella was a private person. She knew Benjamin respected that.

Others, well, didn't yet.

"So now that you're lucid, are you going to tell us what happened to nearly cause your death?"

"Not even a 'hi, I'm glad you're alive'?" Annabella pushed herself up in the bed and grimaced as pain shot through her leg. Justine had told her that even though the fever had broken, the infection was still in her leg so she couldn't be moving around too much. She still posed the risk of losing her leg. Two pillows underneath it were supposed to elevate it above her heart, but she was tired of lying flat on her back.

Stephanie stopped at the side of the bed, looking down at Annabella with folded arms. "Hi, I'm glad you're alive. Now, are you going to tell us what happened?"

"Arrow in the thigh escaping Sarum before your army destroyed it," Annabella said, trying not to sound snappy.

"There, that wasn't so hard to tell us, now was it?" Stephanie dragged one of the chairs from against the wall up to the side of the bed and sat down on it, rather rigidly. "And it's not my army."

Maybe her fever-addled mind was magnifying it, but Annabella hadn't realized Stephanie could be this annoying. "What's wrong?" She glanced at Todd, who hadn't marched into the room with near the amount of enthusiasm Stephanie had possessed. He stood at the foot of the bed, looking more than uncomfortable. His appearance suggested he had gone through the spin cycle on a clothes washer. Something felt off to her. Something had happened.

"Nothing." Just the way Stephanie said the word was proof that she was lying.

"I told you the truth. Now you tell me."

Stephanie glanced over at Todd, who met her gaze for only a second before he returned his to the bedspread. Who knew a white blanket could be so intriguing? He seemed to be studying every stitch.

"Okay." Stephanie seemed just a bit more rigid. "No one likes me here, they're all scared of me and think I'm a horrible person, and Todd sucks at his training and wants to quit."

Todd shot a glare at the back of Stephanie's head.

Annabella rubbed her eyes. These two were both aggravating and unnervingly understandable. "First of all, you two are nothing short of normal. Stephanie, of course they don't like you. They don't know you, and few people around here like people they don't know. They'll get over themselves. And Todd, everyone sucks and wants to quit at first. You'll only get better with time and effort."

"Yeah, but—" Somehow, Todd and Stephanie had managed to start the same sentence at the same time. They both stopped and stared at each other, and Annabella wanted to put her head in her hands. Despite all circumstances, they were growing on her. It was terrifying because no one had made her feel this way so quickly before. The overwhelming desire to protect and help them both was such an unnatural feeling for her, and she found it unnerving and dangerous.

"Yeah, but what?" Annabella asked after a moment's silence. "Look, both of you, it's gonna take some time to get comfortable around here. I suggest you get used to it because we're not going anywhere for a while. Not until I get over this and Todd can properly defend himself."

"And then what?" Stephanie demanded. "Then where do we go? What do we do?"

Annabella knew her answer was vague, but she said it anyway. "We find the Immortal One's son, like Todd is destined to do."

Todd finally spoke up. "We have nowhere to start. I have no idea where this guy could be."

"We know where not to start," Annabella replied practically. "Motch doesn't have him."

"How can we know that for sure?"

"Because if Motch had him, he'd be long dead," Stephanie said.

"The Immortal One took His son," Annabella added. "That's how we know Motch doesn't have him."

Todd folded his arms, looking just as rigid as Stephanie. "Then I'd say just ask the Immortal One where His son is, but something tells me that's not possible."

"It's your destiny to find him."

"Why? Why me? I don't even belong here!"

Stephanie leaned forward in her chair. "Maybe that ties in somehow."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"But how?"

"Maybe the son is somewhere only an Amissian can go."

"Right, and there's a place in Desmond only I can go." Todd was being surprisingly snippy.

Stephanie sensed his attitude as well. "Well, you never know."

Annabella readjusted the blanket on her legs. "Look, Todd, maybe it doesn't make sense now, but it will in time. I've come to understand that there are just some things I won't understand. The Immortal One will make them clear in time."

"Uh-huh." Todd didn't sound convinced.

Annabella would have tried to convince him more, but she was interrupted by the sound of a door slamming open outside her room. Benjamin's deep voice rang through the walls; he was in the hospital wing, calling for Justine. The sobbing voice of a child was audible through the paper-thin walls.

"What's going on?" Stephanie whispered, looking at the door.

Todd was already at the door, opening it. Annabella could clearly hear the child now, a girl who was nearly shrieking; Justine's professional voice rose above it as she called for one of the other nurses. She ordered the child to get back.

Todd was out of the room in a flash, and Stephanie jumped up and went to the door. Annabella couldn't fight her own curiosity, nor the dark feeling that suddenly welled up in her chest. She slipped out of the bed and hobbled to the door, grabbing its frame for balance as she looked out.

"Todd, stay back," Benjamin ordered sharply, his voice booming over the child's cries. He was standing at the table in the middle of the room, his hands, arms, and chest coated in blood — the blood of the man who lay on the table. Annabella only caught a glimpse before Justine stepped in the way.

"Annabella, get back in that bed!" Justine yelled, barely giving Annabella a glance as her hands worked feverishly over the man's body. "Someone get this girl out!"

Annabella saw the girl, built slim like a twig and shaking like a leaf. She seemed to be on the brink of adolescence, perhaps twelve or thirteen, with long blonde hair and ghostly pale skin. Blood stained her clothes, her white face, her hair. Her eyes haunted Annabella: crystal blue, sunken, wild with panic and shock. The girl writhed and kicked when Todd grabbed her, and she let out a shriek that burned Annabella's ears. Todd managed to wrap a firm arm around her waist and drag her back into Annabella's room. He and the girl collapsed against the wall inside, sliding down to the floor as she continued to struggle.

Annabella dropped onto the bed, gritting her teeth against the pain as she ripped the blanket off the bed and threw it at Stephanie. Stephanie wrapped it around Todd and his small companion. The child stopped writhing, but she was still breathing heavily, visibly shaking in Todd's arms. He was eerily calm, whispering something in the girl's ear as she hid her face in his chest. Stephanie sank down on the bed beside Annabella, both of them watching in muted silence as, within minutes, the girl grew calm.

No one dared to the break the silence. Beyond the door Stephanie had closed, the voices of the adults could still be heard. Todd and the girl, swaddled in the blanket, almost seemed frozen in time. Neither of them moved or made a sound. Annabella, now deeply experiencing the consequences of walking on her leg, moved to lie on the bed. Stephanie was beginning to look all different kinds of uncomfortable. Annabella, despite her pain, was curious as to who the man and this little girl were.

An eternity passed before Todd's whisper broke the silence. "She's asleep."

Biting back a groan, Annabella sat up on the bed to look at him. He still hadn't moved from his position, but he was looking up at them with a disquieted gaze.

"What do we do?" Stephanie whispered.

Todd shook his head. He looked at Annabella, clearly asking if she knew. She didn't.

"It was probably her dad," Annabella finally concluded just above a whisper. "The man out there, I mean."

"Is this something that normally happens?" Todd asked.

"Not usually so dramatically. All of these kids living here came from parents who didn't want their child to be found by Motch. They give them up to Benjamin instead. They don't usually come in this old, though. They get babies and toddlers most of the time."

Todd gazed at the girl. "Where do you think she's been her whole life, then?"

"Probably hidden underground just like any other Illegal out there." Annabella gave the girl a grim look. "Looks like they got found out."

Just then, there was a quiet knock on the door. Justine slowly opened it and peeked inside. By the solemn look on the woman's face, Annabella knew the man was dead.

Justine's eyes came to rest on the girl. "I'll take her now," the woman said just above a whisper as she crouched down beside Todd. Gently, she pulled the blanket away and shook the girl's arm to rouse her. "Come, sweetie."

The girl was immediately awake, her eyes flashing as Justine took her arm to pull her away from Todd. With a muffled noise that sounded like a mix between a sob and a scream, she clung to Todd, holding him in a vice-like grip. Justine was about to pull her up and away, but Todd wrapped his arms around the girl again.

"It's okay, it's okay," he said into her hair, gentle and calm. "No one's going to hurt you." Looking up at Justine, he held out his hand, and she helped him to his feet. The girl clung to him desperately, but he didn't try to pry her off. Instead, he held her close. As if knowing the two were inseparable, Justine merely nodded toward the door. Todd carried the girl out. Justine followed, glancing between Annabella and Stephanie for a moment before closing the door behind her.

It opened again in a heartbeat. "Annabella, lay down and elevate that leg before you force me to cut it off." The door shut again.

Annabella didn't argue with the woman. She laid down, stuffing the pillows back under her leg as Stephanie crawled off the bed to retrieve the blanket. She held it up, her face twisting into a grimace as she showed Annabella the blood staining it. Annabella just shook her head, pointing to a corner of the room. Jordan would wash and bleach it later. Stephanie dropped it where told, and then came back to the bed and sat down on the corner awkwardly. Without Todd in the room, it did feel strange to be alone with Stephanie. Annabella couldn't help but wonder what would become of Todd now that the girl seemed very much attached to him. It could become an issue.

"I guess I'll go." Stephanie slowly rose to her feet.

Annabella had always been a private person, used to solitude, preferring to work alone instead of spending time in the presence of others. And yet, it felt weird letting Stephanie walk out of the room. Suddenly, alone felt unnatural. It was like a sleeping part of Annabella's being had finally awoken and was gnawing at her, the part of her that so dramatically and so suddenly wanted someone to stay.

Tamara's face flashed in her mind. Tamara, who had loved her, whom she had loved. Tamara, who had cared about her and whom she had cared about. Tamara, who was now dead.

Everyone Annabella cared about died in the end. Everyone Annabella let close met their ends in horrible ways. She had seen it over and over.

So she let Stephanie walk away without a single word.